And yet East Duplin, which was led by Brianna McMillan’s 17 points, had a shot to tie it at the foul line with 22 seconds left, but missed the front end of a 1-and-1. And they had a shot to take the lead in the final seconds but missed a layup.

“We played really hard. We had opportunities,” Lane said. “It was my fault that I didn’t help us protect that lead better.”

Afterward, it was an emotional time in the locker room as East Duplin’s season came ot an end.

“We had a locker room full of crying people,” Lane said. “They expected to be playing another game. We expected to be practicing tomorrow. That’s what’s going to hurt the most because they were a great group to just be around.

“They worked hard. They bought in. They did everything that we asked of them. The thing I was most proud of is we just kept getting better. So that’s why it hurts so much to see it end because we were just getting better and better.

“We just didn’t play well enough right in that little stretch to not advance. It hurts a lot.”